Natural Rhythm, by Arizona artist Daniel Mayer, was inspired by the Sonoran foothills and desert sky. Landforms and shifting light are interwoven into an infinite bridge design located at Happy Valley Rd. and I-17. Long sinuous contours and three diamond-mesh fence layers create a moiré effect and illusion of distant markers, timeless horizons and atmospheric shadows. Violet light shafts and blue diamond-like stars merge with landform silhouettes reminding us of Arizona's natural beauty – classic, enduring, and constantly in motion.
Conceptually, Daniel Mayer began this public art project by generating “Mind Map" word lists that described the desert foothills – vista, tonal range, filigree, cairn, mosaic, color field, contour . . . . Working with the idea that words makes pictures, the lists informed pastel landscape drawings and papercuts that became the foundation for this design. Mayer's original hand-drawn contours became a structurally engineered element that creates a natural ebb and flow. Metal materials selected for this project are galvanized that shift with natural light. Diamond-shaped concrete design rustication complements and underscores the fence design and follows through on the freeway pier supports.
The two aesthetic freeway fences on Arizona's first Diverging Diamond Interchange can be enjoyed by travelers north and southbound, east and westbound. Each aesthetic fence measures 10' tall by 264' long and is composed of eleven 24' long repeat patterns that creates a changing pattern with seasons and natural light.
Daniel Mayer is an award-winning public artist, studio book artist, and directs The Pyracantha Press in the School of Art, Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts.
